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The Horse Trust Helps Students
Pupils from Woodland enjoying meeting their new friends at The Horse Trust.
Four pupils from Woodland Short Stay School in High Wycombe are taking part in a six-week course at The Horse Trust to build their confidence and self-esteem.

The course, run by Horsewyse CIC1, aims to improve the children's confidence and communication skills, as well as helping them learn about their own behaviour. Sarah McGowan, a Senior Teacher at Woodland Short Stay School, said the course is having a positive impact on the children.

"The children responded well to the first sessions and are already looking forward to the next session, said Mrs McGowan. "The course is helping to build their confidence by encouraging pupils to have a positive attitude towards approaching new challenges. It is also helping them think about their own behaviour, by looking at the behaviour of the horses."

Neil from Horsewyse with the pupils from Woodlands.
"The Horse Trust is a great place to run the course as it has a wide variety of horses from different backgrounds and of different sizes, which is great for working with children," said Dr Karen Smith, Director of Horsewyse. "Children are often particularly interested in horses that have been rescued, as they may have had bad experiences themselves, like being bullied. The shared experience helps them relate to the horse and gives them a sense of achievement when they see an improvement in the horse's behaviour."

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Equine Disease Surveillance report released for Q4 2025

News Story 1
 The latest Equine Disease Surveillance report has been released, with details on equine disease from Q4 of 2025.

The report, produced by Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance, includes advice on rule changes for equine influenza vaccination.

Statistics and maps detail recent outbreaks of equine herpes virus, equine influenza, equine strangles and equine grass sickness. A series of laboratory reports provides data on virology, bacteriology, parasitology and toxicosis.

This issue also features a case study of orthoflavivus-associated neurological disease in a horse in the UK. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
NSA webinar explores sheep tailing and castration

The National Sheep Association (NSA) is to host a free webinar on the castration and tail docking of lambs.

The webinar, 'Understanding the tailing and castration consultation: A guide for sheep farmers', will be hosted online on Monday, 2 March 2026 at 7.30pm.

It comes during a government consultation into the methods used for these procedures. Farmers are encouraged to engage before the consultation period closes on Monday, 9 March 2026.

The webinar offers clear and actionable guidance to support farmers to contribute meaningfully to the consultation and prepare for potential changes.

On the panel will be former SVS president Kate Hovers, farmer and vet Ann Van Eetvelt and SRUC professor in Animal Health and Veterinary Sciences Cathy Dwyer. Each panel member will utilise their own specialism and expertise to evaluate risks and outcomes to sheep farming.

Find out more about the webinar on the NSA website.